Definition of "stranglehold" [stranglehold]

• Sports An illegal wrestling hold used to choke an opponent. (noun)
• A force, influence, or action that restricts or suppresses freedom or progress. Also called throttlehold. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Federer, on the other hand, is usually the favorite whenever he enters a major, with the exception of the French, where Nadal has a four-year title stranglehold, including wins over Roger in the last three finales in Paris."
• "LONDON (MarketWatch) - French police attempted to clear protesters from fuel depots Wednesday, an effort to break a stranglehold on fuel supplies resulting from strikes and protests against the government's plan to raise the retirement age."
• "And finally season three would be called stranglehold, which was about the response to a well established alien presence on Earth."